The parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), in a statement released this Friday, stated that it requested, on Thursday, joint parliamentary hearings of five ministers and three separate hearings of the ministers of Youth and Sports, Finance and Health.
For UNITA, the case of the embezzlement of 7 billion kwanzas stolen from the State coffers by employees of the General Tax Administration (AGT) "is unequivocal proof of the weaknesses and insecurity of the national financial system, markedly affected by the corruption schemes that undermine the institutions and the Government of Angola".
The party calls for "serious and in-depth investigations" into the ramifications of the scheme of embezzlement of public funds, with political, civil and criminal accountability for those responsible, considering that there is information that the "real amounts embezzled from the AGT are above 80 billion kwanzas".
"In normal societies, this scandal and others, such as that involving the Migration and Foreigners Service (SME) and the Supreme Court, would be enough to lead to the resignation of the executive, which, struggling with a lack of liquidity to resolve the country's main problems, is exposing itself to successive cases of attacks on public finances", the statement states.
Senior employees of the AGT were arrested in recent days for alleged involvement in a fraudulent VAT refund scheme involving the embezzlement of 7 billion kwanzas.
At the end of January, the authorities arrested the director of the office of the SME's general director and the head of the Human Resources department of the same body for alleged crimes of criminal association, undue receipt of benefits and passive corruption due to strong evidence of involvement in a fraudulent scheme involving the irregular placement of candidates at the institution.
UNITA also believes that these incidents, in addition to defrauding the State, slow down the country's development and contribute to the deaths of many Angolans due to a lack of medicines in hospitals, drinking water, schools, food and jobs, as well as undermining the confidence of national and foreign investors.
The Ministers of State and Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic, of Defence, Former Combatants and Veterans of the Nation, of the Interior, of Foreign Affairs and of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas are also on the list of parliamentary hearings proposed by UNITA.
According to this political party, Vera Daves de Sousa, Minister of Finance, should explain herself about the AGT case and the delay in the payment of operating funds for hospital units, and the Minister of Health should explain herself about the cholera outbreak and the resources to combat the disease.
Ministers responsible for the Defence and Foreign Affairs departments must explain the "military situation and the contingent of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) in the east of the DR Congo", the suspension of the incorporation process into the FAA and the delay in the payment of salaries to Angolan embassy staff in several countries, according to UNITA.
The party also wants explanations about the overall amount, the compensation for players, the technical staff and all the expenses for the trip of the Argentina national team, world football champions, which is due to play with the national team as part of the celebrations of the country's 50th anniversary of independence.
